NOTES+ON+2012+TITLES

= 1. In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human sciences? = Keywords == **Key words to define: **disagreement, knowledge, natural and human sciences. Disagreements can be over the __logic__ of arguments or value of evidence – thus linking the idea of disagreements to two ways of knowing: reason and perception. Disagreement may also refer to personality clashes among scientists or disagreement arising from different paradigms- emotion. ==
 * **What kinds of disagreements exist? Disagreements based on logic and disagreements based on emotion. **
 * **What about disagreements that stem from emotional connection to subject or political wishes? **
 * **How does the pursuit of knowledge differ in human and natural sciences? **
 * **Impact of internet and democratization of information = more disagreement might hinder progress? **
 * **Challenges to theories can strengthen them (useful disagreement) **

===**Key words to define: ****‘knowledge’ and ‘understanding’, ** General patterns, particular examples, only === == **You don’t have to agree with this one - might be better not to? ** ==
 * 2. “Only seeing general patterns can give us knowledge. Only seeing particular examples can give us understanding.” To what extent do you agree with these assertions? **
 * ===** Can we separate recognising general patterns from particular examples? **===
 * ===**Consider inductive reasoning versus deductive reasoning - what’s the point of them? What’s the impact of using them? **===
 * ===** Is there a difference between knowledge and understanding? How do we distinguish? **===

== **3. “The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.” Evaluate this claim. ** ==

**Key words to define: **//Knowledge, ethical responsibility, evaluate//

 * ===Does possession of knowledge carry and ethical responsibility?-===
 * ===Or is it what you "do" with knowledge that carries an ethical responsibility?===
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Consider Ethics - justifcation of ethics claims - define ethics - compare different ethical systems and the role that knowledge plays - utilitarianism? Is there such a thing as ‘knowledge’ in ‘ethics’? Can ethical responsibility actually exist? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Consider AOKs that may support this claim: Arts, Sciences **

==<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 4. The traditional TOK diagram indicates four ways of knowing. Propose the inclusion of a fifth way of knowing selected from intuition, memory or imagination, and explore the knowledge issues it may raise in two areas of knowledge. ==

These definitions may help:

 * Intuition: the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.
 * Memory: the cognitive function of storing and recalling information.
 * Imagination: the cognitive function of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.


 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Demonstrate that the four ways of knowing are not sufficient - how do you do this? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Difficult to define limits of existing ways of knowing ( each WoK has weaknesses) **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Link to Arts (intuition and imagination) **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Link to Science: Scientific discoveries (famous scientists and discoveries) **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Link to Ethics: do the four ways of knowing suffice? Is intuition important in Ethics? **

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">interesting BBC article on Memory...READ! **

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121213-fake-pictures-make-real-memories/1

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 5. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” (Christopher Hitchens). Do you agree? =

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is evidence? **

 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Empirical Evidence vs. Reasoning. **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is some evidence better than others: validity? sufficient evidence? good evidence? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Evidence needs interpreting - Can it be measured? Trusted? Who decides? **

= **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This ties into beliefs and knowledge? ** = = = "Precautionary Principle": Biology
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What about Religion? Science? Pseudoscience? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ad ignorantum argument **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Justice system in the west - innocent until proven guilty **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nature of evidence in ethics - does one need evidence to make knowledge claims - should one’s claims be dismissed just because there is no evidence? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Dismissing” ideas - just because there is no evidence doesn’t necessarily lead to dismissing claims **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A “lack of evidence” is evidence that something isn’t true? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What about intuition? **

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 6. Can we know when to trust our emotions in the pursuit of knowledge? Consider history and one other area of knowledge. = === Key words to define: // Emotions, trust, knowledge  //  ===
 * ===To what extent can we trust emotions in knowledge acquisition?===
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How does the historian work? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How important is ‘empathy’ as historians look at characters/events? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How important is 'empathy' in the Human Sciences? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the connection between empathy and objectivity? **
 * **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What happens in the natural sciences with the ‘emotion’ of the scientist? **